Unstoppable Force, meet Unmovable Object
by fenris unbound
Summary: It's Galvin's favourite boast: "We grade them and smite them, like the Wrath of God." But what happens when the genuine article arrives...
1. Chapter 1

Title: Unstoppable Force, meet Unmovable Object.

Disclaimer: _Hex, Demons_ and the characters of both series are the property of Shine Group. I'm just taking them out for a test drive.

Author's Note: To anyone who's following my multi-part _Hex_ fanfic A Virtual Third Season, I haven't abandoned it. At the time of writing, Episode #15 is about 90% finished. However, there's a couple of key scenes that I just cannot get to work, no matter how much I alter, tweak or completely rewrite them. So I've decided to take a break, in the hope that when I come back and look at the Episode again with a fresh pair of eyes, I'll be able to see how to put it right.

In the meantime, in order to keep the creative juices flowing, I've written the opening chapter of a short story that I've had rattling around in my skull for a couple of months. Hope you like it. Further chapters to follow. Any feedback is gratefully received, as always.

**Unstoppable Force, meet Unmovable Object.**

_We're going to die._  
The sudden realisation felt almost physical to Ruby – like a cold, clammy hand had seized her stomach and was flexing it's fingers, kneading her insides like dough.  
It was supposed to have been a simple gig. Galvin had heard rumours that the Noisy Boys were up to something, and he, Luke, Mina and Ruby had barrelled into the pool/snooker hall location that a half-life snitch had given the American, only to discover that the 'something' was the Noisy Boys acting as security at a mass gathering of vampires. Which was how the four of them had ended up trying to fight off between thirty-to-forty nosferatu. Hopelessly outnumbered and lacking the right weaponry, they were losing.  
_Careless, over-confident, stupid bloody Yank_, thought Ruby, glancing sideways at Galvin as the American repeatedly and uselessly fired his pulse gun at the surrounding bloodsuckers, his face frozen in a pained, frustrated grimace, his eyes darting nervously as the firearm's blasts had no effect. _If we weren't dead already, I'd kill him myself_, the teenager promised herself sourly.  
Movement to her left made Ruby look over to where Luke – having been punched in the face several times and rendered semi-conscious – was being pushed to and thro by three of the vampires, who had clearly decided to amuse themselves with the last of the Van Helsings before killing him. Luke was stumbling between the trio of fanged attackers, his eyes unfocused, occasionally mumbling something unformed, only vaguely aware of what was happening. He almost fell a couple of times, only for one of the bloodsuckers to catch him and haul him upright before shoving him towards one of their fellow undead.  
And several feet away was Mina, both her arms being held from behind by a large black vampire in mirror shades, while a blonde female nosferatu in a smooth white dress slit up the left thigh all the way to the waist stood in front of her, gently caressing the pianist's face. Mina's forehead was furrowed slightly in apprehension, but otherwise she appeared maddeningly calm, her sightless gaze giving nothing away. Having been talking to Mina in a language that sounded east-European, the blonde vampire suddenly grabbed the blind woman by the chin and twisted her head to one side. Bearing her fangs, the white-clad bloodsucker moved in towards Mina's exposed neck.  
It was seeing Mina in danger that spurred Ruby to action. Until then, the vampires had ignored her, clearly regarding her as being no threat, a snack they could indulge in after finishing her more troublesome friends. Her face a portrait of determination, the teenager ran and threw herself at the blonde, her shoulder striking the female nosferatu in the small of her back, causing the bloodsucker to pitch sideways and fall onto her knees, more out of surprise than due to the impact of Ruby's charge. The blonde recovered instantly, spinning her head round to hiss menacingly at the girl through a mouth of pointed fangs, then moving at inhuman speed so that before Ruby realised what was happening, she found herself being held by the arms from behind, stood in front of Mina, their respective situations mirroring each other.  
Smiling smugly, the blonde leaned her head forward and licked the side of Ruby's neck, murmuring something as she did so.  
"Mina?" Ruby wavered.  
"She said she's going to make you her undead slave," the pianist translated matter-of-factly, "and torture you for over a century for daring to strike her."  
"She knows how to hold a grudge then." The teenager joked nervously.  
Ruby glanced over towards Luke and Galvin. Both were now laid spread-eagled on two of the pool tables, held down by the wrists and ankles by their captors. Ruby's only potential rescuers were themselves in urgent need of rescue. The teenager again felt the blonde's wet tongue on her neck. _I thought we were all going to die_, she thought. _Only I won't get to be that lucky_.  
"Listen to me." Mina said, a note of urgency in her voice, and it took Ruby a moment to realise that the blind vampire was addressing the blonde, not her. "Don't do this. You know who I am. You know what my blood can give you. Take me… take every last drop… and let her go."  
"Mina?" Ruby queried in puzzlement and growing alarm. "No. Don't –"  
"Quiet Ruby." The pianist snapped firmly, in a tone that brooked no argument.  
"But you can't –" The teenager began anyway.  
"It's my life to give." Mina said, cutting her off. "And I've lived too long already. You're only just starting. It's a fair trade."  
The blind woman smiled as she spoke, again looking impossibly reasonable and calm. Ruby felt something trickle down her cheek and realised that it was a tear.  
"I… I've never told you –" She started, but Mina again interrupted;  
"It's alright Ruby. I know." The pianist murmured, still smiling, and that only made the teenager feel worse.  
The blonde nosferatu finally responded, speaking at length, an unmistakeable note of amusement in her voice. Ruby watched as Mina's expression grew serious.  
"Mina? Tell me." She asked.  
"She said they're going to suck me dry anyway." The blind vampire told her. "And the last thing I hear before they drain me will be the sound of you being turned. Being made a vampire. I'm sorry, Ruby."  
The teen felt the prick of sharp teeth pressing on her neck, and started to struggle and scream loudly, but the blonde held her firm. Mina went to shout, to make one last plea, but suddenly turned her face upwards, towards the skylight in the ceiling at the centre of the room. Even through her terror, Ruby noticed that the pianist's alabaster skin had instantly and impossibly turned paler still.  
"Oh no…" Mina whispered – then the skylight exploded and shattered glass rained down into the room.  
And amongst the falling shards, something else. Some_one_. A figure in a long black leather coat that twirled and flapped as it's wearer plunged down in the midst of the chaos, landing on both feet on the centre-most snooker table. Everyone in the pool hall – human and half-life – watched as the figure straightened from it's crouched position, shards of glass still falling down around it, and stood coolly regarding it's surroundings. Ruby gazed at the intruder in astonishment: it was a girl, who appeared to be Ruby's age but was perhaps a few inches shorter. In addition to the coat, the newcomer was wearing black jeans, matching high-heeled boots, and an elaborately patterned but faded red top under a black corset. The stranger surveyed the vampires and their captives through eyes set under a fringe of vivid auburn hair, and when she spoke, it was with an English accent lacking any noticeable regional twang;  
"Right," She announced, "who's first?"  
And then everything kicked off. Moving at inhuman speed, little more than blurs, several bloodsuckers rushed the table from all four sides. But the girl was quicker still. She spun round and booted in the face the nosferatu who had been charging from behind her, then reached into her coat as she continued to spin and produced a sword that she used to slice the heads of two more vampires clean off at the neck. Another couple of the attacking undead tried to leap onto the table, but with the same continuous sweep of her blade the redhead cleaved both of them in two across the waist in midair, then she ducked as – still carried forward by their own momentum - the separated body parts sailed over the table and fell to the ground on the other side. Galvin had once told Ruby that only their own reactivated DNA or another vampire could kill the undead, but someone had clearly never told these nosferatu, as being cut into pieces seemed to be doing the job more than adequately. The black vampire restraining Mina released his hold on her and ran towards the sword-bearing girl, bellowing with rage. He half-leapt, half-dived headfirst towards her, whereupon she side-stepped and slammed an elbow into his back. The blow caused his chest and face to crash onto the green baize, and the redhead plunged her blade into his back, dissecting his heart and skewering him to the table. Leaving him impaled, she straightened as a trio of nosferatu rushed her from the front. Again, she was just too quick for them. Reaching into her coat with both hands, her arms crossed, she produced two halves of an interconnecting wooden staff and smoothly bought them together, horizontally in front of her in one swift, precise and familiar movement that she had clearly performed many times before. A bolt of blinding white energy instantly erupted from the staff and struck the bloodsucker in the middle of the attacking threesome, crackling tendrils leaping from him to strike the vampires either side. All three undead were tossed backwards through the air, blown head over heels, their clothes and hair bursting into flame.  
This last event made the remaining nosferatu hesitate. The room was suddenly silent - apart from the three burning vampires howling in pain as they rolled about trying to put the flames out - and the redhead took advantage of this to speak;  
"Enough." She declared firmly, still holding the staff in front of her and slowly gazing around at the assorted half-life. "You all know who I am, if only by reputation. So, bearing that in mind… does anyone else want to try their luck?"  
Ruby looked about nervously, but none of the vampires reacted to the challenge. Instead, they were all sullenly avoiding the redhead's gaze, most of them staring at the floor. A few were even cowering or trembling slightly.  
"Didn't think so." The girl announced, then she detached the two halves of the staff and stored them back inside her coat, before deftly pulling her sword out of both the incapacitated black vampire and the table beneath him.  
Putting her boot to his face, she pushed him off the green baize and he slid limply to the floor. As she placed the blade within the inner folds of the coat, the blonde vampire holding Ruby thought she spotted a chance. Letting go of the teenager, the designer-clad bloodsucker rushed hissing towards the table on which the redhead still stood. The stranger didn't even bat an eye – instead she simply kicked one of the red snooker balls at her feet so hard that it flew through the air, struck the nosferatu in the mouth - shattering her fangs - then ricocheted off somewhere. The blonde's head was thrown back, a spray of blood and tooth fragments gushing out between her lips, and she collapsed unconscious onto the grubby carpet. A couple of the undead several feet directly behind the redhead took a step towards her.  
"I wouldn't." She said simply, without turning round, and the two of them immediately froze.  
The girl nimbly hopped off the table and nodded towards Ruby, Mina and the still-restrained Luke and Galvin;  
"These people are with me." She informed the room. "And we're leaving."  
The vampires holding down Luke and Galvin instantly relinquished their collective hold and moved several paces back. The American quickly clambered off his table and rushed over to Luke, helping the still-dazed young man sit upright, then move off the baize, and finally supporting him and taking some of his weight as he stood upright.  
"Ruby?" Mina murmured, and the teenager moved next to the pianist so that the blind vampire could slip her hand around Ruby's arm just above the elbow, enabling the younger woman to guide her.  
After everything that had just happened, the sheer sense of reassurance and comfort that Mina's touch gave her was stronger than anything Ruby could have previously imagined. The redhead walked up to them;  
"Mina." She addressed the pianist cordially.  
"Ella." Replied the vampire, an uncomfortable tone in her voice, but otherwise almost doing a good job of hiding how apprehensive she felt.  
"Wait – you two know each other?" Blustered Ruby, looking from one of the women to the other.  
"Later, Ruby." Insisted Mina.

Two minutes later the five of them were in the street outside, the surviving vampires having glowered impotently at them as they exited the snooker hall. While keeping a firm hold on Luke, who still seemed only half-aware of what was happening, Galvin turned and stared down at the redhead through narrowed eyes;  
"What are you going here?" He fumed, almost spitting out the words.  
"Rupert knows her as well?" Ruby chirped in, and Mina squeezed her arm;  
"Ruby, I told you, we'll discuss it later." The blind woman whispered urgently.  
"What I'm _doing_," the redhead replied sharply to the American's question, "is saving your life despite the fact that your blundering has just ruined four months of round the clock surveillance and other hard work."  
She nodded towards Luke;  
"I suggest you get him to a hospital. We'll talk tomorrow night."  
Galvin went to say something, but the leather-clad woman didn't give him the chance;  
"No arguments." She declared. "I'm going to spend the rest of tonight trying to salvage something from this mess. Tomorrow night. Nine o'clock. Stay out of my way 'til then."  
The redhead turned and began to walk away, into the darkness.  
"Where will we meet you?" Mina asked.  
"My place." The girl answered, without looking back.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two.

The hospital confirmed that Luke had a concussion, and wanted to keep him in overnight for observation. Galvin pulled up a chair next to the young man's bed and announced that he would ring Luke's mother as soon as he'd thought up a convincing cover story, and was going to sit with him until he was discharged. Ruby and Mina found themselves sharing the cool night air in the car park next to A&E, stood waiting for Mina's driver to collect them.  
"Mina… I don't want to go home tonight. Can I stay with you?" Ruby asked tentatively.  
"Won't your mother be worried?" Mina enquired, her face turned only slightly towards the teenager, her expression and sightless gaze both unreadable.  
"I'll phone her and tell her I'm staying with a friend." The younger woman offered. "It's just… we almost died tonight. And I need to process that, before…"  
Her voice tailed off. Mina smiled slightly and dipped her chin in understanding: Ruby didn't want to take her work home with her. The pianist gave the teenager's hand a reassuring squeeze.  
"Call her." Mina said.

Within a few minutes the limo glided up and Ruby opened the rear door.  
"You wait inside." Mina told her. "I just need to speak to the driver."  
Thirty seconds later, the pianist joined the teenager within the vehicle's plush interior.  
"I've instructed him to drop me off somewhere first, then take you to my apartment. He's going to collect me later. You can make yourself at home in the meantime." Mina explained.  
The vampire delved a hand into her coat pocket and produced a door key and a small folded piece of paper.  
"Let yourself in." She said, holding them out to Ruby. "The code to switch off the alarm is on the paper. You'll have ten seconds. And keep the key safe. It's yours. I had it cut for you."  
"Thanks." The teenager flustered slightly, caught by surprise, as she took both items.  
They rode in silence. Mina didn't need sight to know that Ruby was trying to sum up the courage to ask her about what had been said back in the snooker hall, but repeatedly failing. The limo eventually pulled up at the location Mina had given the driver.  
"Wait a minute." Ruby muttered, as Mina opened the door and climbed out of the vehicle. "Isn't that –"  
"I'll see you later, Ruby." The pianist interrupted her, speaking firmly but reassuringly. "Don't worry."  
Then she closed the door and listened to the limo moving off, before turning and using short and gentle sweeps of her walking stick to warn her if anything impeding her path as she walked into the wine bar that was currently frequented by the more fashionable vampires resident in the West End.

Again, Mina didn't need sight to know that more than a few glances were being directed her way as she walked unhurriedly but confidently through the establishment, making the journey to the bar by memory. Her other senses operated with a sharpness that even her fellow nosferatu did not possess, and she could hear every whisper and half-mumbled comment. She was used to being an object of contempt and fascination amongst the undead community – she was both a turncoat, a traitor who assisted in the hunting and killing of her own kind… and also the last surviving bride of Vlad Tepes, the Lord Dracula, and therefore arguably the single most powerful vampire still alive. Luke had recently taken delight in telling her that he'd discovered over a dozen websites - presumably created by juvenile Half-Lifes - that were dedicated to her, some spewing hatred and venom about her, others literally worshipping her, but all of them predictably featuring lurid, lengthy and extremely detailed sexual fantasises about her. She had politely told him that if he even mentioned them again, she would make him clean every inch of The Stacks using just a toothbrush.  
Reaching the bar, she found a stool and perched herself on it.  
"Your usual, Mrs. Harker?" Enquired a male voice with a soft Irish accent.  
"Yes please, Samuel. Thank you." She told the bartender.  
She waited until she could smell the sharp odour of cranberry juice and heard the glass being placed on the bar in front of her before speaking again;  
"Samuel, has she been in yet this evening?"  
"I've not seen her, but then she normally calls in later than this." Came the reply, followed by a wary pause. "Mrs. Harker, we'd rather there wasn't any trouble…"  
Mina smiled, calmly, reassuringly.  
"Don't worry, Samuel. I'm not here for that. I'll wait for her, if that's alright. To see if she shows."  
"Of course. Let me know if you need anything." The bartender offered, then he went further along the bar to deal with another customer.

Mina nursed the cranberry juice for an hour, taking the occasional slip while lost in thought, taking in the sounds and smells around her. Expensive perfumes, the tang of various cocktails, the heavy aroma of leather, the dense musk of real fur, heated discussions, self-pitying whining, muttered insults, flirting, veiled threats, dirty jokes, laughter. Then came the sound of someone sitting down on the stool next to hers.  
"I have nothing to say to you." Declared a terse female voice in a rich exotic accent.  
"That's alright. I'm not here to have a conversation." Mina replied archly. "Merely to give you some advice. You need to leave the city. Tonight."  
"You presume to give orders to me?" Came the reply. "And what if I refuse? Will you kill me, as you did your son?"  
Mina was expecting the attack, but despite having emotionally hardened herself, the verbal barbs retained some of their sting. It was a couple of seconds before she spoke again;  
"Have you heard what happened tonight? At a meeting of the clans?" The pianist enquired, deftly changing the subject.  
"There have been some mumblings… an incident at a snooker hall. Several deaths. I don't know the details. I don't get involved in local politics." Was the slightly wary response, the speaker wondering why Mina was raising this topic. "Are you saying that you and your pet humans were responsible? You have neither the manpower or resources."  
"No, it wasn't us. But we were there. We witnessed the whole thing." Mina countered. "It was Ella Dee."  
There was a stunned silence for several seconds as the other woman took this information onboard.  
"Buy you a drink?" Mina offered wryly.  
"Samuel, my usual." The woman said to the bartender in acceptance, her voice now slightly chastened, lacking it's abrasive edge.  
"Put it on my tab." Confirmed Mina.  
The two of them sat in silence until there was the clink of a glass being placed on the bar. Mina could smell the tell-tale coppery odour of the fluid within. She heard her companion take a quick swig.  
"I didn't know she was in the country." The exotic voice murmured sagely.  
"Nor did I. But she is, and she's right here. And she's taking an interest in the vampire community. Hence you should be someplace else. If I were you, from here I'd go straight home, take only what's essential, and get out of the country." Mina advised.  
"Why are you doing this?" The other woman queried, perplexed.  
"Because you loved my son." The pianist told her.  
The two vampires sat alongside each other for several seconds more. Mina heard the rest of the drink being downed swiftly.  
"Quincey only ever loved himself." The woman confessed softly.  
The pianist's eyelids dipped and she lowered her chin slightly. It was a wordless and sub-conscious gesture of agreement. She heard the empty glass being placed on the bar.  
"Thank you." Her companion stated formally. "For the drink."  
There was a rustle of expensive handwoven cloth intermixed with a muted creak of leather as the woman departed, her scent disappearing into the massed throng of the wine bar's other patrons, leaving Mina sitting alone.


	3. Chapter 3

This chapter wasn't originally planned, but I thought I'd best explain my take on Mina and Ruby, and the dynamic between them. To be honest, I'm not completely happy with this chapter - there are some bits which I think are _painful_ - but it seems to take me forever to complete any fanfic these days, so I thought I'd just post it, flaws and all. That said, I hope you like it.

Chapter Three.

Turning the key and opening the door to Mina's apartment, Ruby was barely through the threshold when a chill suddenly passed through her, starting at her back and exiting out of her front. It only lasted a second, but she could feel her skin rising in instant goosebumps, and the small hairs on the back of her neck standing up.  
_Someone's just walked over my grave_, she thought.  
The student gave an involuntary shudder, then – hearing the warning beeps - remembered that she had only seconds to deactivate the alarm. Fumbling in her jacket pocket, she produced the square of paper that Mina had given her, and tapped the sequence into the keypad on the wall, a few feet from the door. Her fingers registered the feel of the raised Braille symbols that accompanied the numbers printed on the keys. Punching in the last number, she waited. The escalating beeps stopped. No bells, no whistles. Relieved, she shoved the paper back in her pocket and made her way through to the lounge. Although she had visited the vampire's spacious apartment before, the teenager had never ventured further than the hallway, living room, kitchen and one of the bathrooms. Ruby couldn't help reflecting that if she had been given free rein of Mina's home in the first couple of months after they had initially met, she would have gleefully searched every cupboard, cabinet, chest of drawers, wardrobe and any other possible hiding place for any dirt with which to embarrass or humiliate the pianist – incriminating photos, sex aids, love letters, journals and diaries written while Mina still had sight, etc. But that no longer interested her. Instead the student limited herself to looking through the vampire's record collection. As expected, there was considerably more vinyl than CDs, with a large amount of classical music by composers whom Ruby had never heard of. The teenager was intrigued by the number of 'Big Band' recordings from the war years, and impressed that Mina seemed to have first pressings of every Beatles album – several of which had sleeves signed by all of the Fab Four. Predictably, the number of albums from contemporary artists decreased steadily over the last few decades, though the pianist was clearly a fan of Kate Bush and – to Ruby's mild bewilderment – Gary Numan.  
There were also multiple copies of Mina's own albums, but Ruby surmised that these were complimentary gifts from her record company. However, the student thought that she now knew Mina well enough to suspect that the vampire repeatedly listened to her own recordings, not out of vanity, but to identity any minor imperfections in her playing and constantly work out ways in which to improve.  
Ruby picked a CD of one of Mina's recitals at random and placed it in the player. As the music began, the teenager kicked off her trainers and curled up on the large leather sofa, her thoughts unavoidably turning – as they often did these days – to the owner of this luxurious apartment.

**The Six Steps that enabled Ruby to get over her infatuation with Luke Rutherford and find true love elsewhere.**

**1. Mina.**  
When she'd first met Mina Harker just several months ago, Ruby had instinctively treated the pianist as an unwelcome intruder: an incredibly glamorous, rich, extremely attractive older woman, suddenly imposed into Ruby's world by proxy, breaching the comfortable closeness between herself and Luke. The teenager had gotten her retaliation in first, firing volleys of petty jibes and insults, to which Mina responded with withering contempt, treating Ruby as though she was merely an annoying child - which of course had fired up the young girl even more, leading to an increased escalation of bitchiness between them. Looking back, Ruby was sullenly ashamed of her behaviour. It had been the revelation of Mina's vampiric nature that had been the first baby step in the gradual change and shifting in the teenager's attitude towards the pianist. Learning that Mina was over a century old – ancient from a teenage perspective - somehow negated her as a rival for Luke's attentions.

2**. Mina. Again.**  
Having to watch as Quincey died in his mother's arms had also softened Ruby's feelings where the pianist was concerned. It suddenly brought home to the student that the seemingly aloof, untouchable immortal was not merely someone to exchange verbal barbs with, but an actual person with feelings like any anybody else, who could be – and had been - deeply hurt many times throughout her extended life.

**3. More Mina.**  
But it had been the incident with Thrip and the fake medium that had been the true turning point. The pianist hadn't been smug or condescending when a concerned Ruby had swallowed her pride and gone to her for help in finding Luke. There had been no patronising or point-scoring. Instead she had aided the teenager without hesitation, even reverting to her vampire-self (which Ruby knew Mina loathed, feared and hated more than anything) in order to save the situation when all seemed lost. And although the student had no doubt that Mina's primary reason had been to rescue Luke, she couldn't shake the underlying feeling that the vampire had helped because she, Ruby, had asked her to. That Mina had done it for _her_.

**4. Not Mina.**  
That night, after dispatching Thrip, the pianist had made excuses and left quickly. Ruby suspected it was because Mina hated anyone – especially her colleagues – seeing her in full nosferatu mode. After she and Galvin had taken a slightly shell-shocked but recovering Luke home, the American had dropped Ruby off at her block of flats. Since her encounter with Thrip's hench-creature several months earlier, she tended to avoid the lifts, and had been half-way up to her floor via the stairs when the lights in the stairwell had suddenly gone out.  
"Great." She'd muttered, then continued carefully, climbing the steps with care.  
The teenager had reached yet another graffiti-decorated, urine-stained landing when somebody had spoken from the one above;  
"Hello Ruby."  
The voice was Mina's, but noticeably different. Stronger, richer, even more confident (if that were possible), with a hint of amusement. The student squinted in the dark, just able to make out the pianist's figure as a sheer black silhouette in the murky gloom.  
"Mina? What are you going here?" She queried.  
The vampire was moving now, gliding down the stairs towards Ruby. She was only a few feet from the teenager when the lights flickered and came back on. Including the incident a few hours earlier, this was the third time that Ruby had seen the pianist as a full vampire. It was still a shock to see Mina _looking_ at her, with unnervingly red rimmed eyes. Plus the inclusion of sharp, pointed oversized incisors in her smile. And there was more: her walk, stance, poise, body language – everything about Mina was subtly but undeniably different. There was something predatory about her movements. Something carnal. The person – the _creature_ – approaching her was not the Mina that Ruby knew.  
"I want to confirm something. About you." The vampire said, in response to the teen's question.  
"Oh?" Ruby murmured, for lack of being able to think of a better reply.  
She suddenly felt hard, cold plaster behind her. Without realising it, she'd backed up against the wall of the landing.  
"You're pure, aren't you Ruby?" Mina purred, her tone making it a statement instead of a question.  
"Excuse me?" The teenager said, failing to hide an apprehensive tone in her voice.  
Mina had reached the bottom of the flight of stairs and stood on the landing, facing Ruby.  
"You've never been intimate… never even been _touched_…by anyone." The vampire clarified. "In fact, you've never even kissed."  
"How did you know?" The teenager said, the note of surprise slightly muted by how nervous she felt.  
"I can't smell anyone on you. Not one." The pianist declared, moving unhurriedly towards Ruby, closing the distance between them, halting so that their faces were just a few inches apart. "I can still smell Galvin's wife on him, and she's been in the grave twenty years. In fact I can detect traces of every woman he's ever been with, right back to his first fumble with a cheerleader on the backseat of his father's car."  
The vampire smiled, and the light from the florescent tube overhead flowed and gleamed down the length of her fangs.  
"And then there's Luke." She declared. "Alice's aroma is all over him. It's as though he's absolutely drenched in her. Other girls too, prior to her. Want to know how many?"  
Ruby gazed at Mina and swallowed hard, aware that the vampire was testing her, trying to press her buttons, gauging her response. Despite her nervousness, the student met the immortal's gaze with a coolness she didn't know she possessed.  
"No. It's none of my business." She told the pianist flatly, and although it didn't occur to her at that moment, when thinking back later she realised it was the truth: she actually didn't care who Luke had been with, or how many.  
If Mina was disappointed by Ruby's reactions, it didn't show. Instead her smile altered somehow. Became hungry.  
"How sweet. You're the most decent person I know, Ruby. Especially amongst the circles I move in. Perhaps that's why we bicker so. Your innocence, in direct opposition to my -" the vampire paused, savouring the word "- _depravity_."  
Despite their initial and ongoing differences, Ruby still thought highly enough of Mina to utter what she said next without thinking;  
"You're not depraved." She contested.  
The pianist responded by leaning in close, moving her face alongside the teenager's. Ruby trembled slightly and involuntarily whimpered, wondering if she was about to feel razor-sharp teeth piercing her neck.  
"You wouldn't say that, if you knew what I wanted to do to you." Mina whispered huskily into her ear, her icy-cold breath caressing the teenager's skin.  
Ruby's frightened imagination went into overdrive, her whole consciousness filled with the nightmare image of the vampire ripping her open, gorging on her blood and threading her internal organs all over the stairwell. Ruby couldn't move as Mina glided her face back in front of the student's, fixing the teenager in her mesmerising gaze.  
"So very sweet." The pianist murmured, then suddenly she pressed her body against Ruby's, one hand taking hold of the girl's hip, the other snaking it's way firmly around to the small of her back.  
Mina's face darted forward and the two women's mouths met. Taken by surprise, it took Ruby a couple of moments to realise that the vampire wasn't biting her, and then as the tightly wound-up coil of inner-tension sprang apart, she responded to the kiss, partly out of sheer relief, partly out of instinct. Mina shifted her body and jammed her left leg in-between Ruby's legs, pressing it upwards against where the limbs parted. The teenager broke off the kiss, throwing her head back – almost bashing it against the wall behind her – and issuing a shuddering breath.  
"Mina, I -" She began, but the pianist didn't let her continue.  
The older woman released her hold on Ruby's body and took the girl's head in both hands, then brought their faces together for another kiss, one loaded with pure passion and animalistic need. Ruby was drowning, her senses overwhelmed by the raging intensity of emotion and sensation that Mina was unleashing within her. She felt the vampire's tongue probing deep within her mouth, overcoming and dominating her own. Despite her inexperience, Ruby knew that this was purely lust, not affection. Mina was taking her as a prize, spoils of war, using her for her own needs. But right here and now, the teenager didn't care.  
As the pianist ended the kiss, she placed her hands on Ruby's shoulders and pressed her against the wall while nuzzling the girl's neck. The younger woman closed her eyes and clumsily grasped Mina's hips. Raising her knee and wedging it between herself and Ruby, the vampire was pressing and rubbing it in a tight circular motion against the opening of the student's legs, and Ruby was having trouble catching her breath.  
"What are. You. Doing. To me?" The teenager managed to gasp in excited fits and starts. "Oh _God_!"  
Mention of the deity seemed to break through to Mina. She stopped and moved slightly away from Ruby, lowering her knee, and the younger woman opened her eyes, to see why the vampire had ceased lavishing physical attention. What Ruby saw in front of her was the usual Mina, not the hungry, implacable sexual predator and conqueror with whom she had spent the last few minutes. This Mina still had sight, but concern and guilt were visible in her face.  
"Mina?" Ruby murmured.  
The pianist responded by releasing her hold on the girl's shoulders and stepping to one side, giving the student uninterrupted passage towards the next flight of stairs.  
"You should leave now." She said, pointedly not looking at the teenager.  
"It's alright, I trust you." Ruby said reassuringly. "I know you weren't going to bite me."  
"It's not that." Mina replied, turning her gaze upon the younger woman. "Look around, Ruby. Do you really want to lose your maidenhood _here_, in a filthy, smelly stairwell, in a meaningless tryst?"  
It would have gone that far?" Asked the teenager, a slight catch in her voice.  
"I was going to use you to suppress my other cravings." The vampire confirmed simply, but with an apologetic note in her voice. "And for that I am sorry. You deserve better, Ruby. Much better. Certainly not here, and not with me."  
"Will you be alright?" The student queried.  
"I'll be fine." Mina said, with a smile and slight nod, but even as she spoke the red tint was fading from her eyes, her gaze was becoming unfocused.  
Her vampire phase had passed.  
"I'll help you to the lift." Ruby offered, but the pianist flustered slightly;  
"No, it's alright. You need to get home. It's been quite a night." She insisted, reaching out and finding the stair's cold metal handrail.  
Ignoring her, the younger woman stepped alongside Mina and slipped her arm in-between the vampire's free arm and her ribs.  
"I'm walking you to the lift." Ruby announced firmly. "Trust me, there are some things in here that you don't want to step in."  
Mina went to say something, but then nodded in acceptance while giving a slight but appreciative smile;  
"Thank you, Ruby." She murmured.  
They walked up the stairs to the next floor and along the grimy corridor to the lift in silence, Ruby replaying what had just happened over and over again in her mind. She felt strangely different somehow, as though she had been taken to the brink of a whole new world and allowed to glimpse over the other side. And suddenly she realised –nobody had ever _wanted_ her before. She had never previously known how it felt to be desired.  
"Mina, can I ask…why me?" She enquired apprehensively. "You said you wanted to suppress your cravings, but why not grab some stranger off the street, or hire an escort? Why did you pick me?"  
The pianist came to a halt, still facing down the corridor, and although her expression gave nothing away, Ruby could tell that she was inwardly debating whether to decline to answer, change the subject, or lie. The student decided to keep pushing;  
"I'm the girl who boys never show any interest in. Either they just don't fancy me, or they assume that Luke and me are an item, because we're always joined at the hip. But he's not interested either. So… why me? I'm nothing special. Is it… is it the virgin thing?" Ruby bleated, enquiringly.  
"It's not just the virgin thing." Mina replied calmly, then she slipped her arm out from Ruby's steadying hold and half-turned to face her.  
With her other hand the immortal reached up, found and tentatively rested her fingertips on the teenager's shoulder, and from there raised her hand to gently cup the side of Ruby's face.  
"And if Luke and all those other boys think you're nothing special, then they're more blind than I am." The older woman whispered.  
Mina's touch was cool, but it made Ruby so flushed that it felt as though her face was burning. She was glad that the pianist couldn't see how much she must be blushing. Then the student saw again guilt suddenly cloud Mina's features, and the vampire pulled her hand away.  
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done – shouldn't have said that." The pianist blustered quickly, clearly embarrassed.  
"What's wrong?" Ruby asked, confused.  
Mina's sightless gaze was downwards, her expression troubled. It was several seconds before she answered;  
"I don't deserve your kindness or your friendship, Ruby." She declared gravely. "I – I just tried to take advantage of you. To force myself on you."  
The teenager gazed at the immortal for a long moment, then reached out, took hold of Mina's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.  
"Back there on the stairs, when we…" Ruby paused, trying to choose her words carefully, wanting to get this right.  
She leaned forward towards the pianist and murmured softly;  
"I don't recall saying 'no'."

**5. Watching Mina.**  
The following morning, unavoidably fascinated by her encounter with this new (from Ruby's perspective) and unfettered side of Mina, and what had transpired between them, the student replayed the incident over and over again in her mind, wondering what would have happened had the vampire not restrained herself.  
She had next seen Mina two days later. On the surface, nothing seemed to have changed between them and they acted around each other the same as they always had, although their sniping was subtly more playful and good-natured, lacking much of the previous mutual irritation. There was an unreadable atmosphere around the two women, noticeable only to themselves – the knowledge that they shared a secret, and that both were comfortable with this.  
Weeks passed. Ruby helped the others track down and smite Half-Lifes while struggling with her studies. She discovered that she found it easily to revise and write her essays at The Stacks than at home with all the latter's distractions, so spent longer and longer in the underground archive, often with only Mina for company. The teenager lost count of the number of hours she'd sat at the reading tables, pouring over a reference book or taping away on the laptop she had permanently borrowed from Luke, while Mina relaxed on the sofa nearby, fingers skimming various texts in braille. Ruby also wasn't sure precisely when she'd started frequently glancing up from her studies to gaze at the pianist, quickly and furtively at first, until she reminded herself that Mina couldn't see her looking at her. The teenager found herself studying the vampire's face, her deathly pale, flawless complexion, the curve of her cheeks, that exquisite nose, the strong but feminine jaw, the long eyelashes that stood guard above and below her calm, sightless eyes. She became fascinated with the slight nuances as the immortal occasionally reacted to what she was reading – a furrowing of her forehead, a hint of a smile, a small tilt of the head, a minute widening of the eyes, a dipping of her chin, a twitch of her mouth. Ruby even caught herself staring at Mina's hands, the long, smooth elegant fingers moving unhurriedly and gracefully over the bumps and peaks of the braille.  
On a couple of occasions the teenager had lost track of time and simply sat transfixed, examining Mina for so long that the pianist had noticed there were no sounds of pages being turned or computer keys being pressed, and had asked Ruby if everything was alright. Ruby had blurted that everything was fine, and made a show of noisily opening and closing a couple of books and bashing on the laptop's keys.  
It was around this time that Ruby realised that her feelings towards Luke had changed. The business with Alice had forced home the fact that he simply did not consider her to be potential girlfriend or lover material, and would never see her as anything other than a close friend or surrogate sister. Ruby was slightly perplexed that this revelation did not hurt or depress her as much as she thought it would, but this was probably because of being continuingly preoccupied with Mina. The secret they shared had steadily grown into a closeness, a feeling of being comfortable with one another that was all the stronger for being unspoken and unexamined. It simply _was_.  
Ruby started spending so much time in The Stacks, assisting Mina in cleaning, cataloguing and maintaining the contents, that she overheard her mother ask Luke if she was seeing someone. She had laughed at that, and even started jokingly referring to Mina in her diary as 'the girlfriend', but – as is often the case - it was matters of a more physical nature that threw everything into sharper focus.

**6. Mina in mind (or: Ruby finally gets over Luke)**  
When pleasuring herself, Ruby often thought of Luke, intermixed over the years with various famous actors, popstars and other male celebrities. However, suddenly thoughts of Mina had not only started to intrude, but were often the trigger that brought Ruby to her peak. At first she hadn't questioned it, until it happened with increasingly frequency, and to such an extent that Luke no longer featured - Mina dominated her thoughts, with Ruby imagining the pianist gently but passionately caressing and exploring her young, yielding body with her hands, lips and tongue… and also fantasising of being willingly, brutally, violently taken, shown no mercy, used, broken and then discarded by the vampire unleashed.  
The teenager no longer had had any doubts about the nature of her feelings towards Mina: she didn't have a crush or infatuation on the vampire, nor did she merely harbour fanciful lustful desires towards her – she now realised that was all her feelings for Luke had ever truly been, and could see that clearly because what she felt for Mina was, in contrast, so much more.  
Ruby knew that she was in love with Mina Harker.


End file.
